VP Defends Draft Day Trade

Dallas traded down from 18 to 31 in the first round of the 2013 NFL Draft

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The Dallas Cowboys didn’t go into the 2013 Draft thinking they would trade down from the No. 18 overall pick, but having seen the way the first half of the first round unfolded, executive vice president Stephen Jones says the team doesn’t at all regret the decision.

“Everybody thinks we’re, ‘Oh, my god, we get to make a trade, let’s just move down,’” Jones said, per the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “It’s not going to be popular when you move down. It wasn’t what we were hoping for. You don’t play for the hoopla; you can’t get into that.

“You’ve got to manage your draft, and we felt like the best decision for us when certainly players were off the board, was to go down and do the right thing and pick up a pick, which we needed, and take a player that fits for what we need in the first round. That brings a little more value for that pick.”

Dallas sent the No. 18 pick to San Francisco, of course, and ended up landing Wisconsin center Travis Frederick. Frederick figures to enter camp as the No. 1 center on the Dallas depth chart.

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